Great Leaders Listen....

“The major difference between the most and least successful executives is the latter's lack of awareness. Successful executives are critical of their own performance. Unsuccessful executives are critical of the performance of others." — Harry Levinson, The Exceptional Executive

How well do you respond to personal feedback?  Does your open door policy mean your people can really come to you and give you honest feedback...or is it more of a “if you don’t like the way I do things the exit door is always open?

Being aware of both our strengths as well as our weaknesses is of tremendous value.  The best way of staying aware of our weaknesses is to listen to those who are close to us and who are people we can trust.  The most valuable members of your team want you to be more successful so that they can grow under your leadership.

"Hearing 'reflective back talk' from friends, colleagues, spouses, and significant others allows us to "true" ourselves in relation to their perceptions. With this input we can integrate our internal conversations with data from the external world to enrich the process of knowing ourselves better." — Warren Bennis and Joan Goldsmith, Learning to Lead